As experienced in the recent COVID pandemic, the outbreak and rapid spread of infectious disease has potential to dramatically impact human morality, public health systems, and economies worldwide. Society’s ability to control and prevent infectious disease hinges on our understanding of the many factors influencing transmission.
There are numerous unanswered questions about how disease spread is being impacted by changes in extreme weather, temperature shifts, climate migration, and population density. Researchers affiliated with Princeton’s Climate and Infectious Disease Group, among them CIMES Deputy Director Gabe Vecchi, are working across disciplinary lines to explore how climate induced changes in the earth’s atmosphere and on human behavior influence disease transition.